Better
by FaustianFantasy
Summary: Secrets have a special way of causing trouble, especially ones thought old and buried. And Overwatch was no a stranger to secrets. Angela's just surprised it wasn't one of her secrets that started the trouble. Yet.
1. Lungs

Dr. Angela Ziegler had a problem.

Well, she actually had quite a few problems in her life, if she was being honest. Torbjorn kept bothering her about weaponizing her nanotech, Ana was being overbearing again, Jack was being a hardass and she had to deal with traumatized recruits who expect her to be consoling, McCree was… McCree, and omnics were trying to take over the world, the list goes on. But there was only one major problem that both needed her personal attention and could be solved in a timely manner.

Her lungs were failing, and not in a way that her biotech could fix.

It had taken a while for her to notice, the only early sign being a sudden increase in the automatic use of her nanotech when she used the Valkyrie suit. The first couple of times it happened she figured she had just caught a bug that her tech eliminated before symptoms started showing. But then it happened again, and again, and again.

A systematic increase in the use of vital resources wasn't something she could just ignore, so after the latest battle she looked into her suit's nanite usage history. Which was understandably not something she did very often, she typically knew exactly when and where she was being healed. Even after being in Overwatch for nine years, being shot was still somewhat notable for her.

The history showed a sudden surge of nanites to her lungs every time she put the suit on, and a slow but steady stream to them the entire time had the suit on. Which… wasn't encouraging.

The only thing that would do that was a slow but constant degradation to her lung tissue, it was as if perfectly healthy cells were just dying and decomposing. And considering that she was using more and more of her tech to repair the damage everytime she wore the suit, the degradation was getting faster.

And surprisingly enough, she couldn't even blame this problem on Overwatch; this one was entirely her own fault. Apparently using prototype versions of her own tech on herself after only a year of successful lab trials was unwise. And not sufficiently following up on the potential consequences when all of the lab rats she used that version of her tech on died of various degenerative illnesses was even more so.

She of course fixed that in the next version, and that experience put a damper on her self-experimentation after that.

She had always thought it weird that it had cured her asthma without any negative repercussions, at least now she knew.

Of course, just because she couldn't fix her lungs with her tech didn't mean she couldn't fix her problem. Lung transplants were entirely feasible. And artificially grown lungs made out of her own cells to lessen the chance of rejection had been in commercial use for years now.

But the recovery time before her lungs would be strong enough for her rather strenuous second job of being the world's most effective battle medic would be uncomfortably long. And while she could just do research in the meantime, her research necessitated long periods of waiting while the newest configuration of her tech was created in large enough quantities to be used in tests. Long periods of waiting that she typically filled with travel to war-torn locales to heal the resident Overwatch branches to alleviate her boredom.

Boredom had always been her greatest weakness.

Along with calculated recklessness. Like what she was planning now with the alternative to a lung transplant.

Her other option; an actually artificial set of lungs, not just artificial but mechanical. An idea that had been in development for decades before the omnic crisis made having mechanical components unappealing and the rise of grown organs made them obsolete.

Obsolete before Angela took the blueprints and tweaked them before implanting a set in a man named Genji after his body was injured too severely for a conventionally grown set of lungs to attach properly. Along with replacing all of his limbs, most of his digestive system, his throat, and almost all of his skin. But the lungs were the pertinent part of that story.

Inserted properly, the lungs would not require recovery time that her biotech couldn't limit. Merely a short adjustment period. And after that they would be more efficient, both in use and in space, than conventional ones. Genji was proof of that, he had much more endurance now that he had effectively lost his ability to lose his breath. She could even install small storage devices in the free space, so that she could operate in oxygen deficient environments for longer periods of time.

That solution presented an additional problem though. Namely a much more extensive surgery that would actually require altering more of herself than just replacing her lungs, the ones that she had implanted in Genji had also required an artificial ribcage and a mechanically enhanced spine. Not to mention the casing around the lungs to protect his more fleshy parts from his mechanical ones, like his heart.

So what was more important to her, her ability to perform her job effectively, or an irrational attachment to her own flesh and bones that would just be replaced by something better?

Angela thought that the answer was rather obvious. And frankly would never understand how people could think otherwise, even if she would respect their opinions. A mechanical set of lungs would just be better than the set nature provided. It would allow her to perform better, it would let her save more lives by limiting the time she needed to recover from strenuous exercise. Strenuous exercise like she would be doing on the battlefield, in moments where her prompt and precise actions saved lives.

Something that made her better, that made her more able to save lives? How could she justify not doing it?

From Angela's point of view, there was really no other option. But that presented a problem of it's own.

She knew that if she told her coworkers at Overwatch that they would say that downtime wouldn't be a problem. That they could pick up the slack while she recovered. That doing this to herself would be unnecessary. They would try to stop her out of some silly desire for her to not be artificial. To not be like an omnic, as if that were even possible. They would try and stop her, for no good reason.

They had tried to stop her research when it headed in that direction before, she had no doubts that they would try to stop her from doing this.

Maybe she could talk them into it, Gabriel could be convinced if she played on his practicality but Ana and Jack would be hard sells. And Angela really did not want to waste time on convincing them when she could just do it herself without their input.

But there was a solution to that too. Just don't let them object in the first place. She could do the surgery on her own dime, she had enough money saved up to manufacture the parts and she could do the surgery herself with the right anaesthetic. And as for finding the time...

* * *

"Hey Jack, do you have a minute to talk?" Angela made sure to knock before she asked, Jack hated being surprised in his own office. Which of course meant Ana and Gabriel did it constantly. Which she supposed was the leeway being old comrades got them. She however saw no point in antagonizing the already stressed man.

Which was probably why he liked her.

"Is it important?" Jack asked, not even looking up from the paperwork on his desk.

As much as he liked anybody he worked with.

"It's about me taking some time off." Angela said, knowing that he probably wouldn't like that. Along with being head of the medical branch of Overwatch, she was head of Research and Development, purely because Torbjorn couldn't be bothered with bureaucracy. All of the experimental technology that Overwatch was developing landed on her desk at one point or the other, and most of it was classified enough that if she wasn't around to handle it, it could only go to Jack. They both knew that if she took time off, she was significantly increasing his workload.

He actually looked up at her this time, looking far too tired. He had been working far too much since he had taken command. Not that she had any room to talk. "So that would be a yes."

"I would like to take Monday through Wednesday off on the week of the 21st of August." Angela said apologetically. Enough time to make the implants and on a set of days when she would plausibly want to take time off.

Jack made a show of looking at the calendar on his wall, "Angela, it's May." When she only smiled and nodded he sighed, "So, I'm going to assume this isn't medical leave then."

"No, not medical leave."

"Alright, why?"

Here goes...

"August 23 will be the twentieth anniversary of my parent's death. And I thought… that I would like to visit them for that." Angela said, her insides squirmed as she used her parents' death to deceive her boss; it wasn't a lie, she did want to visit and this just gave her an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. An opportunity to get the surgery and visit her parents' graves. Still, she felt horrible about it. "And the two surrounding days for travel." That one was a lie. She would leave on Friday, perform surgery on Saturday and spend the rest of the time recuperating.

The harsh lines on Jack's face softened as he looked at Angela. It took all she had not to squirm under his compassionate stare as he set down his pen and gave her his full attention, "Angela, I've known you for over nine years now. In that time, you have never taken a day off that you weren't forced to. Of course you can have those days off. In fact, barring an emergency, you can take the whole week."

Angela shook her head as she said, "No, I only need those three days. Any more would be a waste."

"Well, you have them anyways. I'll tell security not to let you in if I have to. You might as well spend them at home."

"I couldn't." Angela said, more to stop herself from saying something else than because she meant it. She was sure neither she nor Jack wanted the conversation to get so sappy as her saying that this was her home now.

"You can and you will. Overwatch managed to survive for over a decade before you joined, we can manage for a week without you on call" he said with a smile, "You've got a week's vacation, enjoy it."

"Thank you," Angela said, smiling helplessly.

"You're welcome, now is there anything else? I unfortunately have to get back to, this," he said as he gestured disgustedly to his paperwork. Despite his obvious dismissal, he looked more the optimistic man who recruited her than he had when she walked in.

"No, nothing else," Angela said before she turned to leave. Standing in the doorway, she paused and turned back. "Except one thing. You're looking a little pale Jack, have you been getting enough sun lately?"

"Get back to work Doctor," Jack said flatly. The amused glare that he gave her made her smile even wider.

"Alright alright…" Angela said, laughing as she raised her hands placatingly. She made her way out the door, before peeking her head back into his office to say "At least move to an office with windows, it's dismal in here."

"Work!" She could hear the grin in his voice as she walked away.

That went well. She got what she wanted, and got Jack in a good mood. Which wasn't easy to do these days, he had too many responsibilities for one man, especially one who is losing his best friend.

It went well… So why did she feel so guilty?

She didn't lie really, she was planning on doing everything she said she was.

But... a lie of omission was still a lie. And lying to a man she respected left a bad taste in her mouth.

But it didn't matter, she was doing this for a reason. They would try to stop her. But she was doing this for them, their lives were in her hands far too often for her to perform sub-optimally. She would give anything to help her friends, her family.

Giving up her lungs? In exchange for something _better?_ No question.

It would make her better, which would let her save more lives. How could she not do it?

It would make her better.

She would be _better_.

* * *

This is going to be in a weird format. 14 chapters with two of them being the Prologue and Epilogue, and the middle twelve being a rotating POV from Fareeha to Ana to Angela, with Angela's chapters being flashbacks. The separate sections are in chronological order internally.

It made sense when I started.


	2. Reunion

It was amazing to watch how all of her comrades reacted to her mother coming back from the dead.

Putting aside Fareeha's own complicated relationship with the woman and her mixed feelings about her return, the change in the people she had been calling teammates for the last year was stunning.

Whatever Fareeha was expecting when she, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Jack ran into her mother during a mission, it was not for Reinhardt to break down crying on Ana's shoulder. She also wasn't expecting Torbjorn to squeal in delight. She definitely didn't expect Jack to start laughing.

Jack. Laughing.

And he was _still_ laughing under his breath as the shuttle they were in approached Gibraltar. It was bizarre.

Fareeha had gone through her after-battle cool down protocols as she watched Ana interact with her teammates, flexing her arms and legs in her Raptora suit, some of the most expensive prosthetic limbs in some of the most expensive armor in the world. She listened to the gentle whir of her fingers as she watched Reinhardt dab at his eyes with a tissue while laughing at something Ana said, her ears detecting the slightly different whir from her prosthesis and the sound from her suit. She listened to her mother's story silently as she tested each digit in turn, watching the movement and listening to the machinery inside her.

Fully functional. Taking off the suit was a half hour process, she couldn't do it here. She had nothing else to distract herself for the rest of the flight, however short it may be now. Nothing to keep her from her thoughts.

The sight of her mother bringing out sides of these men that she hadn't seen in over a year working together brought all of the complicated emotions she felt toward her mother to bear. Happiness of course, but there was more there than she wanted to think about now. But...

Fareeha's introspection and the others' conversation was interrupted by the landing of their shuttle. They had arrived at Gibraltar.

Time for more of Overwatch to learn of Ana's survival.

Of course they might already know, and considering that they typically did not have a welcoming party consisting of most of Overwatch, that was likely.

"Captain Amari!" Fareeha's back straightened as her head whipped in the direction she heard Lena's jubilant crow. But she wasn't there anymore, instead she was standing in front of Ana. Lena was talking to Ana. Of course. Lena was _hugging_ Ana. And chatting a mile a minute into her face. Fareeha forced herself relax, no one was reporting to her here.

One by one the other members approached Ana, each just as overjoyed as the last as they all crowded around Ana and Fareeha stood by silently.

Fareeha watched from the shuttle as Ana walked down and greeted her colleagues, _her_ colleagues, not entirely sure what to do. She did not particularly want to participate in the growing furor, but just leaving felt… wrong. And as was becoming the norm for situations where she had nothing else to do, her eyes drifted toward Angela. Watching Angela had become a habit that Fareeha wasn't in a hurry to break, and indulging might be a welcome distraction.

Angela stood slightly to the side of all of the commotion, unlike the others she hadn't moved since the shuttle landed. And she was just watching them all with a gentle smile on her face, much like Fareeha was, although Fareeha was sure she looked less gentle in her combat suit than Angela did in her blouse and slacks, and she felt decidedly less comfortable.

That might have been the most surprising reaction to Fareeha, amidst all of the shock and joy there was Dr. Ziegler, completely serene with an expression that Fareeha saw on her face almost every day.

But that wasn't entirely true. From her vantage point on the shuttle, she saw when the expression on Angela's face shifted when Ana turned her back to Angela to greet a sobbing McCree, her gentle smile turning into a dark frown. It was the first time Fareeha had ever seen her seriously frown outside of combat or surgery, and it was the most grim expression Fareeha had ever seen on the woman. Following her gaze, she saw that Angela wasn't actually looking at Ana, she was looking at the rifle slung across her back.

But as quickly as it had appeared, the frown replaced by that gentle smile again, although Fareeha thought it looked less genuine, as she stepped up towards Ana. Fareeha wasn't close enough to make out what everyone else had been saying in all of their noise, but Fareeha had always had an ear for Angela's voice.

"Welcome back Ana."

With that she gently clapped Ana's shoulder and took a step back, letting Ana go back to the conversation she was having with Lena and McCree. Or rather, let Lena and McCree talk at her.

And... That was it.

Her piece said, Angela stepped back from the commotion leaving Ana to the others and leaving Fareeha baffled. That was it? 'Welcome back Ana'? Fareeha herself had received a much warmer and more personal welcome when she had joined Overwatch, and she had barely known Angela before that. Ana had been her coworker for over a decade, and Ana had always spoken so highly of Angela to Fareeha. She would have expected some kind of reaction from Angela, but no. Stunned, Fareeha watched as Angela distanced herself even more, standing at a point that was even farther away from Ana than Fareeha was. And then she stopped, and watched. Watched with the most grim expression Fareeha had ever seen on her.

Fareeha could only stare at her in bafflement, this definitely wasn't what she was expecting.

Her gaze flit between Angela and Ana in concern. Ana was oblivious to Angela's reaction, she was still talking to McCree. But Angela was staring at Ana's back, at the rifle. Something wasn't right.

Well, she couldn't stand on the shuttle all day, and the growing glare on Angela's face was starting to worry her. No it was definitely worrying her. Maybe Angela would appreciate the company and a chance to distract herself.

It was a testament to how bothered Angela was that she didn't notice Fareeha's approach. She was normally as hard to sneak up on as a cat. And Fareeha would know, she had tried. But here she was, standing slightly beside Angela looking worriedly at the frown on her face. She didn't like it there, Angela was one of the most calm and pleasant individuals she had ever met, a frown just didn't fit her. Besides, she was much too pretty for such an ugly expression. Smiling at the thought Fareeha cleared her throat and watched as Angela jumped slightly before facing her. Angela's frown vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a smile that did not reach her eyes as she greeted her reflexively, "Fareeha."

"You looked like you could use some company." Fareeha said under her breath, watching as the tension in Angela's shoulders started to relax.

Angela just responds with an amused, knowing look, getting a grin from Fareeha. She had used that line to initiate conversation more that once, but she always meant it.

"You looked a little upset by your conversation with Ana," Fareeha continued when Angela didn't verbally respond.

The look Angela gave her this time was much less playful and more considering, and Fareeha let her gaze drift down to Angela's lips as she pursed them in thought. Then she said, "It wasn't the conversation."

"Are you alright?" Fareeha asked, her eyes snapping back up to Angela's blue ones.

"I will be, it's nothing to concern yourself over." Angela said as she gently nudged the side of Fareeha's armor with her elbow affectionately, and Fareeha believed her. That was something Fareeha had learned very soon after they had met, Angela didn't say things she didn't believe. "And good company goes a long way." And Angela smiled at her, a gentle smile that was more in her eyes than her mouth and Fareeha couldn't help but suspect that this one was much more genuine than the one Angela had shown to her mother.

Fareeha had to fight the urge to blush, both at Angela's words and her expression. Angela was frustratingly attractive, but she wasn't going to distract Fareeha from trying to comfort her.

"Well, I do hope you don't mind if I worry about you regardless," Fareeha said charmingly, or at least she hoped it was charming. The soft chuckle she got out of Angela showed her that she had succeeded. Fareeha loved watching Angela laugh, she did it like no one else Fareeha knew; she had an expressive face and laughter brought out the best in it, and her chest didn't move with her laughter. Not that Fareeha made a habit of looking at Angela's chest, but it was just bizarre; her chest never moved with her breath. But Fareeha had always liked bizarre things.

"I expect that I would have to mind it almost constantly if it bothered me every time you worried about me unnecessarily." Angela teased dryly, her tone not matching the smile tugging at her lips.

Fareeha just gave what she hoped was a winning smile in response before they lapsed into companionable silence. The mood around Angela was much lighter than it was before, so Fareeha considered the conversation a success. And she supposed she was in a better mood as well. Funny, she hadn't even noticed that she was in a bad mood before. After all, what did she have to be upset about? She got to see her mother for the first time in over a decade. This was a happy occasion. So why was she happier having a five sentence conversation with Angela than she was after being with her mother for the first time in almost ten years?

 _Well_ , Fareeha thought as she looked fondly at her companion, _besides the obvious reason._

Fareeha was content to just stand in silence together for as long as it took for it to become socially acceptable to leave the excitement around Ana's return behind, but Angela apparently felt otherwise.

"I can't imagine how you are feeling right now, this must've been quite the shock." Angela's voice was sympathetic as she broke the silence around them along with Fareeha's growing good mood.

Fareeha shrugged, not particularly wanting to talk about it, not even with Angela. Eventually she said, "She sent a letter a little while ago. That was quite the surprise."

"A letter," Angela said incredulously, looking at Fareeha as if she were waiting for her to say it was a joke. When Fareeha merely stared ahead, apparently Winston was telling a story to a laughing Ana now, Angela just looked shocked. Then, an unimpressed look briefly flitted across her face before she forced an unconvincing smile. "That... That sounds like Ana."

Fareeha turned and studied Angela for a moment, taking in her dispassionate expression before saying, "I suppose it does. I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you don't seem quite as enthused as the others."

"I'm not really the excitable sort." Angela said mildly, "Besides, Jack and the others worked with Ana long before I did. I'll let the old guard have their turn with her first. I'm sure I'll get to talk to Ana when I take her to my office for a check up."

"Old guard huh?" Fareeha asked skeptically, nodding her head towards where McCree was standing next to Ana.

"He is four months older than me." Angela said lightly.

Fareeha didn't even say anything as she gestured to Tracer, who was right next to McCree, and who was over a decade younger than the doctor.

"Ana was Tracer's first commander when she joined Overwatch, they connected pretty deeply for having known each other for such a short time." Angela justified, thinly in Fareeha's opinion.

"You know, you don't have to talk around the subject if you really don't want to talk about why you aren't over there." Fareeha said, seeing how uncomfortable Angela was getting.

There was a pause before Angela said, "I notice you aren't over there either."

"It's complicated."

"So it is."

There was a pause in conversation as they watched Ana and Reinhardt laugh uproariously at something that left the others around them bemused. Apparently inside jokes never grew old.

"I was never friends with your mother, I respected her and worked well with her. But we weren't friends." Angela said finally. While Angela's voice wasn't hard it definitely wasn't anywhere as warm as it usually was.

"I actually consider myself much closer to you than I ever was with her," she continued, finishing her statement with the smile that Fareeha had realized months ago not many got to see.

Fareeha smiled back, feeling her face grow warm before responding, "That's funny, I had always thought that you were quite close."

Angela looked at her baffled. Fareeha really must have misread how deep of a relationship they had, they must have been very distant if that was the expression Fareeha got for saying that.

"She often spoke of you to me when I was younger, and always with the utmost respect." Fareeha explained.

"In fact I remember back when," Fareeha started nostalgically before she cut herself off, her face growing hot. She had just realized what she was going to say, in front of Angela. But in front of Angela's curious face she couldn't help but continue. Oh well, it's not like she had anymore pride after that incident where she was shot in the ass. "Back when I got my first poster of you," Fareeha barreled on, ignoring the sudden grin on Angela's face, "She actually encouraged me, and got me another. I think she got me more Mercy paraphernalia than I ever bought for everyone else combined."

Angela looked simultaneously more confused and smug than Fareeha had ever seen her, it was adorable. Smug was a surprisingly good look on Angela and Fareeha definitely did not regret telling that story, even if she was now hiding her red face behind her Raptora helmet.

"That was pretty much the first and only time she ever encouraged my interest in Overwatch I think." Fareeha added thoughtfully, She paused for a moment to collect herself before continuing with a rueful smile, "She often told me that I should try and be more like you. She always did want me to be a doctor, and she expressed it more strongly after you joined Overwatch."

She did regret saying that as soon as it left her mouth as she inadvertently removed the smug grin on Angela's face. In it's place she just looked stricken.

"I'm sorry." Angela said, and she meant it. And that meant the world to Fareeha, for reasons she didn't really want to think about.

"Don't be, it was hardly something you had control over, that's just why I was surprised you weren't close." Fareeha said, trying to convey how little she wanted Angela to feel guilty, and how little she wanted to have this discussion.

Angela accepted her diversion with a nod before she turned and watched the others with a frown, a slight downturn to her lips that conveyed more weariness than actual anger. She watched them for a moment before quietly saying, "I've always felt that she respected what I am and what I do more than she respected me."

The words struck a chord with Fareeha. Memories flooded her, memories of having her thoughts and beliefs dismissed and ignored. Memories of feeling more like an ungrateful daughter than a self-realized person of her own every time she talked to her mother, even after she had been an adult for the better part of a decade.

Fareeha didn't say anything for a moment, letting the silence settle over them again as she watched as Ana prodded Jack with her finger and scolded him, prompting a fit of laughter from everyone else. It was a joyous picture. A joyous picture that she was watching from the outside. Watching her mother interact with _her_ coworkers, _her_ friends, and make them happier than Fareeha had ever seen them filled her with so many emotions. Happiness of course, but it was tainted with bitterness. She had worked so hard for so many years to become her own woman, to become Captain Amari, to become Pharah, to be an agent of Overwatch, and she did it under her mother's shadow and disapproval and she had _succeeded_.

She was Pharah, she was an agent of Overwatch. And she was happy.

And now she was on the outside looking in at a world of her mother's making.

Seeing her mother and her friends happy made her happy. But she wasn't with them. She was on the outside. Again.

But at least she had company this time. Company that understood her better than she thought anyone else would, without even trying.

"Yeah, that sounds like her."


	3. Old Mistakes

After over a decade of working alone working in an actual organization, even one as disorganized as the new Overwatch was, was both surreal and chafing. It would taken some time to get used to working in a command structure again, to working with people who she could trust to have her back. But Ana was an army woman through and through, and she was sure that she would adapt soon enough.

Didn't make the command meetings any less surreal though. They were by turns both more and less formal than she was used to. A gathering of all of the most decorated members of this new Overwatch to discuss tactics and future plans had a weight that none of her own missions in the last decade had. A sense that she was once again on the cutting edge of military might and justice. Even if they were no longer funded by the UN, and were barely more than a vigilante group operating out of an abandoned base.

The sight filled Ana with nostalgia for the old days of Overwatch. Even if this particular group of people had never been together during Overwatch's heyday, every individual represented the pride and glory of the organization. Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Dr. Ziegler, Winston, Jack, Genji, Mei, Jesse McCree.

And Fareeha.

The sight of her baby girl calmly sitting at a table that held some of the most decorated soldiers and heroes in the world, men and women who Fareeha had once regarded as living legends, and talking with them on even footing filled Ana with a familiar feeling of pride and dismay. A feeling that she had felt almost constantly since Fareeha joined the army, over fifteen years ago.

Fareeha was out there fighting her mother's wars with a pride and passion that left Ana breathless. Fareeha was a more decorated soldier than Ana herself had been at her age, the pride and glory of Egypt, even after she had moved on to HSI to become the youngest security chief in the private company's long and illustrious history. The thought of the battles her daughter had fought made Ana's heart clench, especially every time she imagined the battles that had left her daughter a quadruple amputee by the age of thirty three. And wasn't that a smack in the face? She didn't even know when her baby lost her arms.

Fareeha had done so many incredible things during the time Ana had been gone; she had even done something in one year that Ana couldn't in twelve, become friends with Dr. Angela Ziegler.

Angela was without a doubt one of the best people Ana had ever met. She was smarter, kinder, and more moral than anyone else Ana cared to compare her to. But she was not what Ana would call friendly. She could count on one hand every one of Angela's friends that she knew about. Mei, Reinhardt, Jesse, and maybe Zenyatta and Torbjorn. She treated everyone else with the same disaffected kindness that she treated her patients with. Kind to a fault, but with no personal fondness. Even after working with her for over a decade, Ana had never felt like Angela considered her more than that, a coworker. The mild response she had received on return had made that abundantly clear.

But here was her daughter, chatting with her like they were old friends. Angela had a smile tugging at her lips as she tried to feign exasperation at whatever story Fareeha was telling with exaggerated expressions and gesticulations. They both looked happier talking with each other than either of them had looked talking to her since her return.

"Enough," Jack said, his annoyed voice cutting through the idle chatter that had settled over the meeting room, "We've obviously finished what we came here to do tonight, are there any other matters that any of you want to bring up before we adjourn?"

 _The years had drained all of the humor out of the man_ , Ana thought. _Even if he had a point._

Everyone else looked like they agreed with her, with Jack having a point, not Jack having no sense of humor. Although Ana was pretty sure they would all agree with that as well. She would have to work with him on that.

Mei and Winston were the first to walk out, both of them eager to return to the project that they were working on, something to do with Snowball. Ana didn't know the details. But they were apparently excited about it which was good. Genji was next, stopping briefly to say a couple words to Angela before he left, leaving just Jack, Torbjorn, Reinhardt, Angela, Fareeha, and herself.

Now seemed as good a time as any to broach a topic she had been avoiding for a while, Ana thought as she looked over to where Torbjorn was packing up his notebook. Filled with his schematics and not anything to do with the meeting, of course.

"Torbjorn," Ana called, getting his attention. "My biotic rifle could use a little tune up if you don't mind Torbjorn. I've been taking good care of it, but it has been over a decade; and there's only so much I can do."

Torbjorn grinned at her, "Of course Ana, that rifle was some of my best work, I'd love to get my hands on it again. I even have some ideas that I couldn't…" He trailed off as he realized what he was about to say, and he looked unsubtly towards the side of the table where Angela and Fareeha had gotten very quiet.

That was the easy half of this conversation done.

"And Angela-"

"No." Ana hadn't even finished saying Angela's name before she was cut off with the most chilly response she had even heard from Angela. And that was saying something, they had gotten in some pretty charged arguments before. One in particular sprang to mind.

Everyone in the room gave Angela a glance at the response, if only because of how sudden it was. Fareeha in particular was looking at her in concern.

"No?" Ana asked, not entirely surprised by the reaction but she was willing to push more because she really did need Angela to look at the generators for her ammo, the one that actually generated the medicine in her ammo and grenades was on its last legs.

Angela's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ana, and she was reminded of the other reason she had respected the doctor so much. Angela may have been a kind soul, but she also had a spine made of steel.

"No. I will have no part in your bastardization of my technology. You will continue to use the biotech generators that you stole to supply your ammo." Angela's voice was hard.

"What do you mean stolen?" Fareeha asked slowly in the silence that followed Angela's declaration. Her eyes flitting between Ana and Angela as her own eyes narrowed in thought.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Ana, but I'm assuming that Overwatch wasn't supplying you with ammo over the years you were assumed dead. So you must have stolen the generators from some Overwatch facility or the other." Angela said sounding deceptively dispassionate. Evidently this conversation was going about as badly as Ana was expecting it to, but it was a conversation that needed to happen at some point, and it was one that she needed to be honest for. So she nodded in agreement.

"A fact that I find particularly interesting considering that after Overwatch was disbanded I went and personally collected every single biotech generator that I built or allowed to be built, and there wasn't a single one unaccounted for. So that means that someone built one of my biotech generators without my knowledge or consent."

"Probably the same person that built the rifle that's existence I vetoed in the planning stage." Angela finished flatly, looking at a squirming Torbjorn now.

"It was... ah, just a proof of concept. Just to see if your tech could even be administered at range." Torbjorn said, caving immediately under Angela's stare, he was a wonderful engineer and fighter, not so good at lying. Especially not when he was lying to friends, it was a miracle that Angela hadn't already found out prior to Ana's reappearance. Probably because Torbjorn didn't want to think about it after Ana was gone.

"Funny how I wasn't informed of the test for a concept that I vetoed." Angela said, "As was my right. I joined Overwatch under the stipulation that my tech would never be used as a weapon. And that every use of my technology had to be done with my full knowledge and consent."

Ana had the sinking feeling that maybe this was going to go _worse_ than she was expecting. This wasn't how she was expecting Angela to react. She was calmer than Ana was expecting, the last time they had broached the subject Angela hadn't been anywhere near this calm. Maybe some honesty would help this go smoother?

"You are right Angela, I did steal both the rifle and the generators a little over a year after my death." Ana admitted.

"The rifle that should not have existed in the first place." Angela said, still looking at Torbjorn. She hadn't even glanced at Ana since the conversation started, which was somehow worse than if she had been glaring at her. Ana at least had experience with that.

There was no way this discussion was going to end well. And even Torbjorn could see that at this point.

And the others...Reinhardt, Jesse, and Fareeha were silently watching, none of them knew anything about this, at least as far as she knew, and they were content to stay out of it for now. And Jack... Jack was currently staring silently at the table in front of him. He knew about this, he was the one who authorized the rifle in the first place after all. And Angela had to know that.

Angela gently fiddled with her bracelets on the table, Ana had to fight the urge to look at her right hand, the gentle motion at odds with her hard gaze as it swept over the assembled heroes as she continued. "For over twenty years I trusted that Overwatch kept it's end of the promise that you made when I joined. I trusted that you valued my ability to save lives over the potential of my tech to take them.. And now I find that I was wrong. Now I learn that you've been making a fool of me for over a decade."

Jack raised his head in the silence that followed, saying "We did what we had to do to do our jobs. We all made out sacrifices for the greater good. No one was more important than the safety of the world. I'm sorry that you feel that we crossed a line that was never our intention, it was just one of the necessary sacrifices we all made."

Ana winced at that response, when did Jack lose all of his social grace? He used to be the face and voice of Overwatch, surely he knew that that was unconvincing bullshit. But then again, maybe he knew that and was doing that thing where he tried to use others to punish himself for his mistakes.

"Sacrifices generally involve willingly giving something up, you sacrificed nothing and obviously it wasn't necessary considering that Overwatch agents weren't equipped with biotic rifles. All evidence points to you only manufacturing one of them, and leaving it to collect dust in storage when Ana died. This wasn't a sacrifice made for the greater good, it was a favor for a friend."

Angela finally looked back at Ana. "A friend who should have known the price of what she was asking." Angela finished her statement by waving her right hand at Ana, the gold bangles that she wore on her wrist bouncing out of tune with the mood of the room. And Ana couldn't help but wince at the sight of her hand, the thin layer of shiny scar tissue that covered the entirety of Angela's palm, three of her fingers and most of the back of her hand. And Ana knew exactly when and where Angela got that scar. She was there when Angela got it, and she was there when Angela healed it. And she knew one thing, Angela's tech didn't leave scars.

Unless she wanted it to.

Ana got the message, and merely nodded. This was definitely going worse than she expected. And she didn't even have anything to say in her defense, Angela hadn't accused her of anything except stealing the weapon and generators. She seemed more interested in Jack and Torbjorn's involvement in this than hers.

"You took my tech without my knowledge or consent and made the one thing you swore you wouldn't. Weapons. And then you lied to me." Angela said, stony-faced, "Even after you had built it, you told me to my face that you would never make weapons. All the while having generators pump out my tech to make bullets and grenades."

Ana was still getting used to this Angela, the one who calmly laid out her grievances with an icy tone. The Angela she knew was passionate, and even flamboyant in her anger. She had always been slow to anger, but when she actually got angry? She was terrifying.

This new Angela was terrifying in a different way.

And more worrying was _what_ Ana had missed that had changed Angela so much.

Because the Angela she knew would not still be sitting there calmly fiddling with her bracelets while saying these things. There would at least be a glare.

"And when it was stolen, you never saw fit to tell me that a weaponized version of my technology that I built to save lives was now out in the world completely unchecked."

Ana winced at that description, that… that did not paint Jack in a good light.

"I trusted you, and you have shown yourselves unworthy of that trust. You have shown yourselves to be liars and thieves." Even Jack winced at that, but they both had enough experience with Angela's temper to know that interrupting her now wouldn't help them at all.

"And I will not make the same mistake again."

"All of my research will be performed under my private company, Overwatch will have no access to the research itself. Athena has already helped me wipe all digital records of my research from herself and all of her subsidiary computers. I have also removed all of the physical records and have had all of my biotech generators removed from all Overwatch associated locations, except for here in Gibraltar. I will have full control of how much of my technology Overwatch will receive."

"I will of course continue to provide the same level of resources and expertise that I have been for the last year. You will still have access to the medpacks and kits that you always have, along with your biotic fields Jack." Jack merely sighed and nodded at that. It was plainly obvious that there was no dissuading Angela at this point.

"And you," Angela said, looking flatly at Ana, "You will continue to use the stolen biotech generators to provide ammo. And if they break, then I'm sure that we have some of your old rifles still in storage. I once told you that you could weaponize my tech over my dead body, and you made me a liar. That won't happen again."

Another reason Ana had always respected her so much, Angela was damn good at holding a grudge, but she was even better at not letting her grudges affect her work. Essentially nothing would change at all, except that they were all abruptly reminded of the fact that they were only operating as well as they were, with the resources they were, at Angela's discretion. And made Ana aware that she was no longer in Angela's good graces.

Which again, changed very little, so Ana nodded her acquiescence.

Angela eyed her, Jack, and Torbjorn as everyone else looked incredibly uncomfortable. Reinhardt in particular looked shocked and appalled, which somehow hurt more than Angela's entire talk. Fareeha looked… unreadable, which was almost worse.

"If there's nothing else?" Angela asked, looking at everyone in turn. When nobody said otherwise, she simply smiled thinly at them and stood. She gently patted a very still Fareeha on her shoulder and she leaned down to say something in her ear before she walked out, just as poised as she was when she walked in.

That could have gone better. Ana thought wryly. She honestly hadn't expected Angela to agree to look at her rifle, and she was expecting a well deserved rant. But she had not been expecting something so… final from Angela.

And, she thought watching as Reinhardt stood up solemnly from his place at the table, she also wasn't expecting to have the conversation in front of other people.

."My friends…" Reinhardt started, looking like he was pained to even say that, "I did many things I regret in my time with Overwatch, we all did dark things for the lightest of reasons. But I never betrayed the trust of a friend, and I will never stand for that." He gave them a piercing look, somehow managing to look more betrayed than Angela did.

With that said, Reinhardt stood and followed Angela out the door, leaving her behind, with Torbjorn and Jack.

Fareeha and Jesse exchanged looks as they stood up to follow him, both of them avoiding looking at the other occupants. Jesse was pulling his hat down to hide his expression as he left, but Fareeha looked unashamedly concerned as she walked out, it would surprise Ana if she didn't go directly to Angela.

She supposed that she shouldn't be surprised by how concerned Fareeha looked, this was probably the first time she had ever encountered Angela's temper. And Angela could probably use the company, she tended to be far too honest when she got angry, and say things she didn't intend to.

Well, that _definitely_ could have gone better.

Sighing, Ana sank into her seat. Old secrets coming back to bite her in her ass, hardly something new. Looking back on it, having the rifle made was a mistake. Taking it from storage even more so. Using it? That might just be too much for Angela to forgive, especially considering the last real conversation they had before Ana had almost died...

But then she thought about all of the times the rifle had saved her, and the people that she had worked with over the years. She thought about the people who were still alive because of the biotech in her rifle, and knew that she just couldn't give it up; no matter how much Angela would hate her for it.

Ana laughed mirthlessly as she mused that maybe there was a very good reason that she had never been friends with Angela.


End file.
